It has been another busy week in Crookfur Family Centre!In the garden we have been exploring the change of weather. We had lots of fun playing in the snow and investigating the ice. We decided to watch the process of water turning to ice by leaving some of our toys in a bucket of water and watching them freeze. We had to get tools to break them free! It was lots of fun 🙂

IC- ” It feels so hard. I can’t break it.”

Miss Queenan suggested that we could add some water to the ice which would make them melt.

AA- ” It is working, look.”

The children have also been busy this week making lots of Christmas decorations for the trees. They handled the knives safely when cutting the orange slices and then chose to decorate these with different colours of glitter after they dried in the oven. We were interested in how the smell of the oranges changed after they had dried!
We also made some homemade snow using a variety of ingredients. We loved exploring the different textures as we mixed them all together with our hands. Some children then rolled and manipulated the snow to make snowmen and some chose to make snow filled Christmas baubles for the tree. It was so much fun!

In the sewing area the children have had an interest is making their own teddy bears. They have been designing their creations and selecting materials to decorate their bears. They have  also been developing their fine motor skills as they carefully threaded the material together.

CB ” I want to make a bid teddybear so that I can cuddle it.”

MJ ” I want to use a button for the nose.”

In the art area the children have been exploring the work of the artist Ya Yoi Kusama . Through this they have explored elements of pattern and sequencing to create their on patterns on the pumpkins.

In the malleable area the children decided to make ‘ pumpkin soup.’  They created their own recipe cards and shared their ideas on what they would like to add to the soup. They developed many skills as the cut the fruit, used the grater and masher to get all the ingredients to make ‘slimey pumpkin soup!’

RB- ” We need to mix it all together.”

AC- ” I need to add some bats cause thats what my recipe says!”

MW- ” The soup smells nice, like oranges.”

Following on from the interest in making pumpkin soup in the malleable area, the children participated in sensory experiences in the garden. They explored the texture of the pumpkin and coloured spaghetti, learning lots of new sparkle words and also getting a little bit messy!

QF ” It feels a bit slimey!”

LM- ” i like the coloured spaghetti.”

AP- ” It looks like real worms.”

We have been exploring transient art in the creative area, creating different patterns and designs using the loose parts.

” I’ve made planets.”

“I’ve made a gymnastic place.”

“It’s Mr Tumble!”

“It’s a flower with a diamond, whole circle and a half circle.”

We have also been developing  our co-ordination,balance and gross motor skills by playing giant Twister! We have been exploring directional language and learning about left and right.

” I am good at balancing. look!”

” The blue is my favourite colour.”

“This is the right and this is the left.”